John Croft, Star TribuneVikings defensive tackle Alan Page hit the books in 1976. Coach Bud Grant allowed Page to practice in Mankato on weekends only while Page studied for his law degree during the University of Minnesota's summer session. Page went on to become a justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court.

“Right,” laughed Page. “More so than Halloween are the kids in classrooms that I visit. They always go Ick, Oooh, and Ouch.”

In “Alan and His Perfectly Pointy Impossibly Perpendicular Pinky,” the first of three and counting children’s books co-written with daughter Kamie Page, the crooked digit is a device to tell the story of a kid whose questions are a little off target.

I like this retelling of how the pinky got that way: “I don’t remember the game. I made a tackle. It got pulled out of its socket. Jim Marshall looked at me as I was whimpering and whining. I showed him my pinky. He grabbed it and pulled it back in its joint and the game went on. I was a slow learner. It’s a function of having been dislocated multiple times. Had I simply taped it to [the next] finger, it would be fine today.”

In Part 2 of our interview we talk more football.

Q: Are all your kids as cerebral as you?

A: I don’t know that I’m all that cerebral. They are thoughtful. They can be fun.

Q: You seem stern, but you have a fun side the grandkids probably see?

A: I would hope so. They would say Goofy Grandpa.

Q: Because you love words, do you cringe when professional athletes, who have attended institutions of higher learning, sound as though they never took an English class?

A: I tend to try not to judge other people’s usage of words. [Pause] I get it. I hear some of them. It’s cringe worthy. I wish that they would get their acts together.

Q: Do you think Cam Newton is going to have his act together more after his misstep?

A: [Shaking his head no.] Misstep? Why would you say that? It’s just a very strange reaction. I have a real problem particularly with people who have been the victims of discrimination exhibiting discrimination themselves.

Q: Would you kneel now if you were in the NFL?

A: I don’t know. It’s one thing to protest. It’s one thing to take action to bring about positive change. I’d be more inclined trying to figure out what I could do to stop the underlying reason: ... the unjustified killing of unarmed black people. Kneeling is fine, but it doesn’t change the facts.

Q: Have you been stopped by police very much in the Twin Cities?

A: Not in my old age. I’ve been stopped here, stopped in Chicago. [Shoulder shrug] Nothing new there. I can’t remember who said it, but I think it really says it all: The only difference between me and Emmett Till? I wasn’t there. The only difference between me and Philando Castile? I wasn’t there.

Q: Aches and pains: Do you have any other souvenirs from football?

A: I was going to say, I’ve got new ones. [Laughs]

Q: Unrelated to the NFL?

A: Actually, the only real football injury that’s had any long-term staying power is this pinky.

Q: To what degree are you certain or uncertain that playing college or NFL football causes CTE?

A: Football is a violent, violent game. It’s debilitating. The question is what if anything can we do about it.

Q: If I named you NFL commissioner, and I can’t believe you haven’t been approached about that, could you make the game less violent?

A: Not my idea of a good time. I had the best job, if you can call it a job, from my perspective: serving on the court. If there was something that fit me, that used my skills and abilities, my interests, that was it.

Q: If former President Barack Obama had wanted to nominate you to the U.S. Supreme Court, would you have said ... Yes?

A: By the time he was in office, I was well past my sell-by date.

C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on FOX 9’s “Buzz.” E-mailers, please state a subject; “Hello” does not count.

C.J. is a columnist in the Star Tribune's Twin Cities section. Her column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
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